Lunaapahkiing Princeton Timetree

Relations, Removals, Resurgence

1866 Delaware Treaty

Following the Civil War, the Delaware continue to suffer under the pressure of increasing white settlement. The U.S. Government signs a final treaty with the Delaware Tribe, the 1866 Delaware Treaty. The Delaware Council “gives up” their reservation in Kansas and relocates to Indian Territory. Just under 1,000 Delaware remove to the Cherokee Nation at an area equal to 160 acres a person. The Delaware purchase a 10-by-30 mile tract of land from the Cherokee Nation situated along the upper Caney River valley (Oklahoma-Kansas today). In 1866, Delaware Chief John Conner writes to Cherokee Chief William P. Ross (Princeton alum) confirming the sale and stating his choice of the “preservation” over “incorporation” option, consistent with 1866 U.S Treaty with the Cherokee. The Delaware Tribe of Indians maintains tribal integrity, vouching to preserve tribal organization in ways not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the Cherokee.

Cursive writing is atop a blue lined paper.
detail from an image of the treaty

Walter S. Logan, reprinted by Richard C. AdamsLibrary of Congress

See the 1866 Delaware Treaty.

treaties Native students Cherokee alliances dispossession Ohio Country US Government
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Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Princeton VizE Lab, Anthropology Princeton Department of History Princeton Department of English licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License AccessibilityPrinceton University